Investment by Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and Toronto Central LHIN allows Sherbourne Health Centre to make safety and accessibility improvements

TORONTO, Aug. 29, 2017 – Sherbourne Health Centre (Sherbourne) has received a $78,000 capital investment through the Government of Ontario’s Community Infrastructure Renewal Fund. The $78,000 investment will allow Sherbourne to install handrails in its elevators and throughout its 14 bed in-patient Acute Respite Care (ARC) program.

Installation of the handrails is one of a series of ongoing improvements Sherbourne is making to improve the client experience and reduce the risk of falling and fall-related injury for people with reduced mobility.

The province of Ontario is investing more than $2.8 million in 17 facilities within the Toronto Central LHIN. Across Ontario, the Community Infrastructure Renewal Fund is helping 68 community health service providers across the province to support crucial infrastructure projects, including replacements to roofs, windows, heating and air conditioning systems, fire alarms and back-up generators.

Quotes

“We are grateful for the Government of Ontario and Toronto Central LHIN’s support. We are constantly trying to improve the accessibility of our services, as well as safety within our centre. To that end, this investment allows us to make important upgrades to ensure quality and safety for our clients.”

– Hazelle Palmer, President & CEO, Sherbourne Health Centre

“By investing in community health infrastructure, we will help ensure that community health organizations can keep their facilities in a good state of repair, make them accessible, and continue to provide high-quality care, close to home.”

— Dr. Eric Hoskins, Minister of Health and Long-Term Care

“Toronto Central LHIN is committed to strengthening our local care providers and supporting their efforts to serve patients, clients and their families with the care they need — when and where they need it. Our health service providers are extremely dedicated and community-focused organizations and it’s important that we support the services they provide within our city with investments like the Community Infrastructure Renewal Fund.”

The Community Infrastructure Renewal Fund investments have increased 78 per cent from last year, up from $4.1 million to $7.3 million, which will support 68 communities across 85 sites province-wide.

Community health facilities are publicly funded and provide a range of programs, including primary care, community mental health and addictions, allied health care (e.g., physical therapists, occupational and respiratory therapists, dietitians, speech language pathologists and audiologists) and health promotion (e.g., not-for-profit programs and services delivered by a public health unit).

Ontario’s health care budget in 2017-18 is $53.8 billion — a 3.8 per cent increase from the previous year.

As part of the 2017 Budget, Ontario is also spending an additional $9 billion to support the construction of new hospital projects across the province. This brings Ontario’s total planned investment in hospital infrastructure to more than $20 billion over the next 10 years.

About Sherbourne Health Centre

Sherbourne Health Centre is an urban health agency in downtown Toronto that provides holistic primary care and chronic disease management, mental health services, health promotion and education, and outreach and social supports. Sherbourne’s doors are open to everyone, with a focus on the LGBTQ community, homeless and under-housed people and newcomers to Canada, whose complex needs are often not met by traditional health care. Sherbourne combines high quality clinical care with responsive, culturally appropriate community development programs that bring barrier-free services to people in the surrounding communities who need it most.